93 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
93 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
---
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section: cli-commands
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title: npm-link
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description: Symlink a package folder
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---
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# npm-link(1)
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## Symlink a package folder
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### Synopsis
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```bash
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npm link (in package dir)
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npm link [<@scope>/]<pkg>[@<version>]
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alias: npm ln
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```
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### Description
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Package linking is a two-step process.
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First, `npm link` in a package folder will create a symlink in the global folder
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`{prefix}/lib/node_modules/<package>` that links to the package where the `npm
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link` command was executed. It will also link any bins in the package to `{prefix}/bin/{name}`.
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Note that `npm link` uses the global prefix (see `npm prefix -g` for its value).
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Next, in some other location, `npm link package-name` will create a
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symbolic link from globally-installed `package-name` to `node_modules/`
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of the current folder.
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Note that `package-name` is taken from `package.json`,
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not from directory name.
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The package name can be optionally prefixed with a scope. See [`scope`](/using-npm/npm-scope).
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The scope must be preceded by an @-symbol and followed by a slash.
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When creating tarballs for `npm publish`, the linked packages are
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"snapshotted" to their current state by resolving the symbolic links.
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This is handy for installing your own stuff, so that you can work on it and
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test it iteratively without having to continually rebuild.
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For example:
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```bash
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cd ~/projects/node-redis # go into the package directory
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npm link # creates global link
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cd ~/projects/node-bloggy # go into some other package directory.
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npm link redis # link-install the package
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```
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Now, any changes to ~/projects/node-redis will be reflected in
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~/projects/node-bloggy/node_modules/node-redis/. Note that the link should
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be to the package name, not the directory name for that package.
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You may also shortcut the two steps in one. For example, to do the
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above use-case in a shorter way:
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```bash
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cd ~/projects/node-bloggy # go into the dir of your main project
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npm link ../node-redis # link the dir of your dependency
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```
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The second line is the equivalent of doing:
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```bash
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(cd ../node-redis; npm link)
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npm link redis
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```
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That is, it first creates a global link, and then links the global
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installation target into your project's `node_modules` folder.
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Note that in this case, you are referring to the directory name, `node-redis`,
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rather than the package name `redis`.
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If your linked package is scoped (see [`scope`](/using-npm/npm-scope)) your link command must include that scope, e.g.
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```bash
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npm link @myorg/privatepackage
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```
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### See Also
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* [npm developers](/using-npm/developers)
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* [package.json](/configuring-npm/package-json)
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* [npm- nstall](/cli-commands/npm-install)
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* [npm folders](/configuring-npm/folders)
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* [npm config](/cli-commands/npm-config)
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* [npmrc](/configuring-npm/npmrc)
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